It’s not uncommon when you see a supercar for the first time, in the flesh, to be stunned stupid by its majestic beauty. Much like the mythical glamor that moose give hunters, who upon first seeing their splendor in the wild instead of pulling the trigger put down their rifles and simply stare at the wondrous beauty before them. In awe. Such is the reaction when you gaze upon Pagani’s new supercar, the Huayra, for the first time. Unlike a lot of internet denizens who remarkably dissed the Huayra’s groundbreaking lines when it first hit the blogosphere, we were loving it the moment we laid eyes on it. But after seeing it in person last night at its American debut at the Pasadena Art Center, we were blown away on an entirely new level. Yes, sure it can go 230+ mph and pump out 700 horsepower out of its AMG-built 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12 engine, but what really sets the Huayra apart is its striking aesthetic — inspired by a “wing” design, with its gullwing doors up the car looks like a bird of prey striking the asphalt like a helpless doomed prairie dog. It is ominous. Another stunning touch are the sideview mirrors, which stretch out from the front panels like a graceful sapling. The mirrors look just like leaves, but then we were told they are actually inspired by a woman’s cat-like eyes. Either way, it works.

But after chatting with marque’s founder and CEO Horacio Pagani what you discover is just how much game-changing technology is stuffed under those spread wings. First off, the Huayra has more carbon fiber in it than any other production car in the world — not just a couple panels to shed weight, nearly the entire car is carbon fiber. They even pioneered a costly carbon-titanium blend to house the safety shell of the cockpit. The Huayra is also crafted with 4 wind flaps (2 in the front, 2 in the rear) that rise and fall automatically to control downforce and manipulate aerodynamics. They also craft key parts (suspension) of the car out of forged avional — an aviation-grade, highly expensive aluminum alloy. Its fuel system is even revolutionary, as it uses a “no-return” system that limits the amount of high pressure fuel that is near the engine by only calling the fuel that’s needed, instead of most cars that just return the unused fuel back to the tank. Which means should you ever crash your precious Huayra, the amount of petrol splashing around the streets should be much more limited.

Inside the car is wrapped in luxurious leather with sharp contrast stitching, with an aviation-inspired cockpit full of aluminum switches like a vintage fighter plane. Pagani even throws in leather luggage that perfectly fits its rear side compartments, but considering the heat that’ll be emanating from the V12 engine, don’t expect anything to come out of the bag less than scorched. We said it before and we’ll say it again: can’t wait to see this one in action. Brawns, beauty and technology — the Pagani Huayra just elevated the ultra-supercar standard up a few notches.

One more gallery of the Pagani Huayra American Debut after the Jump…